The time was two quarters past Wei Shi (around 2:30 PM), and while Long Boyuan and Ding Wanjun were chatting idly in Yihe Garden, a painted pleasure boat was drifting slowly along the blue waves of West Lake. Search: (¨Complete¨ Book¨ God¨ Station¨) to read high-quality literature for free.

This was a comfortable houseboat built specifically for lake tours. The boat had a single deck and was exquisitely crafted, but without being ostentatious. The canopy was spread wide and thick, with perhaps two or three layers, providing some insulation. Although the weather was hot at this time, after noon the wind on the lake picked up. With the thin curtains and light gauze on the boat, and ventilation from all sides, the cabin was cool and refreshing.

Afternoon, houseboat, West Lake. According to modern time, it was only around 2 PM. Even though the spacious cabin wasn't hot, the wide lake, with only one or two distant boat shadows visible occasionally, was enough to bring about a drowsy atmosphere. If any other boats were to pass by, they would likely notice that the owner of the pleasure boat was already asleep on a bamboo cool bed. The tables and chairs in the cabin were low, and a chessboard with black and white pieces was placed quietly near the entrance, indicating that someone had been playing chess not long ago. The chess players were probably the two maidens dressed as servants beside the chessboard. At this moment, they were leaning against the wall of the boat and had also fallen asleep. One maiden was embracing the other's waist, resting her head on her shoulder, while the embraced maiden held a fan in her hand, still fanning occasionally.

In front of the window on the other side of the boat cabin, another maiden was sitting on a low stool, leaning over a small table, sorting through things with a hazy gaze. She was probably the only person awake in the cabin, holding a writing brush in her hand, dealing with matters in what appeared to be an account book. Occasionally, she would add a stroke, likely not anything important. After doodling for a while, she would yawn and lean on the table for a nap, then force herself to cheer up, hazily lifting her head, resting her chin on one hand while continuing to rummage through things with the other.

In the sweltering summer, this leisurely scene of light gauze fluttering in the pleasure boat was worthy of being painted. Naturally, there were boatmen and others on the pleasure boat to steer it, but they generally wouldn't come to disturb the master's sleep. After a while, the maidservant sorting through the account book by the window finally couldn't hold on any longer and fell into a deep sleep.

Unbeknownst to when, a figure vaguely walked over, tying up the fluttering gauze by the window, then taking a thin blanket and covering the three maidservants. After all, the wind on the lake was strong, and since they were asleep, it was always good to take precautions.

The maidservant who had been sorting through the account book opened her eyes slightly. In her hazy gaze, she saw a tall and slender figure twisting and turning at the bow of the boat, doing some movements called warm-up exercises. After a moment, she heard a splash, and the figure plunged into the lake water.

Perhaps it was time to get up. The maidservant thought to herself, but soon, on the side of her vision, another white figure walked over. It was the mistress. She went to the bow of the boat, squatted down to tidy up the master's outer robe, and then sat down by the side of the boat, leaning against the railing on the side of the boat. Although she was awake, she still seemed somewhat languid.

The wind blew, and the white skirt fluttered gently, along with a few strands of hair that had escaped their confinement due to the afternoon nap.

A faint voice came from the front. The mistress hugged the railing with both hands and shook her head. Even though it was just a back view, one could see that the mistress was in a lazy and happy mood, probably because the master had asked her to go into the water to play again.

The affection between the mistress and the master was very enviable. Even as a maidservant, she had seen many things in big families, but she had never seen a couple with such affection anywhere else. It wasn't just harmony and mutual respect that could describe it. Given that the master was an *ruzhui* (婿入赘, a son-in-law who marries into and lives with the bride's family), it was even strange. Every time she thought of this, the maidservant named Xing'er couldn't help but wonder what her future husband would be like. If she could have such feelings, that would be great. If not, then not getting married might be okay, since she would be in the Su family for the rest of her life, and the young lady and master were quite good to her.

Their situation was relatively unique compared to other wealthy families. She was the head maidservant under the young lady, and normally, she would also be a *tongfang丫鬟* (a maidservant who also serves as the master's concubine), but since the master was an *ruzhui*, the possibility of her being arranged to him was not high. Generally, a young lady from an ordinary family wouldn't have three maidservants by her side. Their young lady had two more because she later went out to show her face and manage business affairs. The young lady and master had a good relationship. Now, it seemed that Xiaochuan and the master were set to be together, but she and Juan'er didn't know what would happen after that.

In the past, it was quite clear.

Like them, the young lady had a position in the family. In the future, they would be betrothed to capable servants or shopkeepers in the family, and they would still continue to be maidservants in the Su family. At that time, their husbands would also be favored in the Su family, and they themselves would also have a position, and they wouldn't be bullied. Compared to other maidservants, they were the most likely to live happily ever after.

Everyone's life trajectory was similar, so there was no need to overthink. But in the past year or two, after seeing even better things, she felt somewhat empty inside. The future settlement seemed to suddenly become less of a settlement.

The young lady got married very late, but she and Juan'er were already of age now. She didn't know when the young lady would call them over to talk about these things. She didn't know if Juan'er had thought about it, but she had been thinking about these things occasionally recently.

Since the young lady was already up, she couldn't sleep anymore, but she couldn't just get up because of the atmosphere in front. So she leaned over and squinted her eyes, watching. After a long time, it was probably Shen Shi (3-5 PM), and the afternoon sky became clear. The master came up from the lake and went to the side cabin to change clothes. Chan'er and Juan'er, who were sleeping together, had also woken up. The maidservants went to the back to prepare snow fungus and lotus seed soup, and also took a box containing ice cubes, knocking out ice particles from it. The cabin became lively again.

For over a month, the family often spent an afternoon wandering on West Lake.

At this time, transportation and information were not very developed, and the commercial world of a place was ultimately more regional and exclusive than in later generations. Ning Yi accompanied his wife to visit merchants one by one, usually in the morning. Starting from Long Boyuan, there were basically arrangements every day. Of course, after the visit, it was relatively free. If there was nothing necessary, they usually found a place to visit and cool off.

Since they were all family, there was no need to entertain, so they could be more casual. After trying a few places, Su Tan'er spent money to buy a pleasure boat. Occasionally, when they came out of someone else's house, they would directly get on the boat, have lunch on the boat, and then take a nap. In the afternoon, they would pass the time by themselves, chatting, playing chess, and discussing decisions in the business world. Now that Ning Yi and Su Tan'er had about the same information, there were many topics to talk about. He always remained silent in other people's homes, but when it was just the two of them, husband and wife, he would talk about his views after today's visit, what the other party's attitude was, what kind of gifts should be sent, what would happen in the future, and so on. In this way, it also promoted a few small cooperative businesses.

However, since they had just arrived in Hangzhou, it was difficult to do big business for the time being. In this exclusive market, Ning Yi and Su Tan'er's idea was just to let everyone know "I'm here" and "There's one more merchant in the market, but we are no different from other merchants" in a few months. When everyone had somewhat adapted, it was time to vigorously promote Jiangning cloth.

Relatively speaking, the money spent on buying pleasure boats, buying residential houses, and various other tours had already been more than the initial commercial investment. However, the initial investment was just small money, and Su Tan'er didn't mind it.

She and her husband Ning Yi had a happy and leisurely time playing, and they were also quite harmonious in various matters, which made everyone who saw them couldn't help but envy them. Now, under her elder sister's pressure, Wen Ding and Wen Fang, who had temporarily restrained their nature to help with things, would occasionally come to the pleasure boat to spend an afternoon, and Ning Yi would find them to go swimming.

Speaking of swimming, Su Tan'er herself was actually somewhat opposed to it. In this era, it was ultimately not good for people with families, businesses, and identities to do such things in public. Su Wending and Su Wenfang also thought the same way, but when Ning Yi heard that they could swim, he kicked both of them into the water, one foot for each. Su Tan'er couldn't do anything about it, especially since she herself had been tossed into the water by Ning Yi once. As long as there were no other boats around, she had to let Ning Yi have his hobby of swimming.

That time in the water was naturally not out of free will, nor was it like the two younger brothers being kicked down by Ning Yi. At that time, Ning Yi had exercised several times, and his swimming skills in his memory had gradually recovered. He had told Su Tan'er several times to go into the water to try, but Su Tan'er refused. Even if he made a bet with things in the business world, she would never bet on this. At that time, Ning Yi went into the water for a while. Thinking in his heart, he suddenly made a look of sinking, flapping a few times, saying that he had a cramp. The boatmen and workers above the pleasure boat were not in sight. At that time, only Su Tan'er was there. Seeing her stunned for a moment, she jumped down in her dress.

She had only swam when she was a child. Saying that she could swim, her swimming skills were actually limited. In a hurry, she almost drowned herself, choking on several mouthfuls of water. After being held by Ning Yi, she knew that she had been tricked. She looked at Ning Yi's icy face, which was the stern face she rarely showed in front of her workers. Ning Yi held her face and kissed her mouth, and she struggled desperately.

Su Tan'er was a woman with a very strong personality and ideas. She was gentle in front of Ning Yi because of her upbringing. At this time, when her mood fluctuated, ordinary comfort couldn't fool her at all. Later, she wanted to get on the boat, but she was still dragged by Ning Yi to swim a few laps in the water. At first, she struggled a few times, but later she resigned herself to it. When she got on the boat, she kept a straight face and remained quiet, scaring Chan'er and Juan'er. This continued until night. After washing up, she kept a straight face and processed the account book at the table, refusing to go to bed. Ning Yi went over, opening one book there and taking away one book here, until Su Tan'er glanced at him coldly and was about to get angry, he said, "It's time to sleep."

"Not sleeping..." Su Tan'er spoke slowly and deliberately, but before she could finish speaking, she was thrown onto the bed by Ning Yi, and then the two began to fight.

The three maidservants outside heard this and were frightened. Chan'er was so anxious that her hands had already clenched into fists. Fortunately, Su Tan'er didn't shout loudly to let others in or anything. After a moment, the room became quiet, and the three didn't know what had happened. On the bed in the room, Su Tan'er's hands were held down by Ning Yi's left hand, pressed under him. She bit Ning Yi's right arm, and the bite was quite heavy, with blood seeping out. Her eyes stared straight at Ning Yi below.

Ning Yi let her bite, and after a moment, said, "Tigress."

Su Tan'er hated her silver teeth to pieces, and used force again in her mouth, and blood seeped out again. Ning Yi didn't even move his eyebrows. The two just stared at each other for a long time. Ning Yi smiled and leaned down, "I know a tiger tamer. His hands are full of bite and scratch marks, so it can be seen that doing this job always gets bitten." Saying that, he kissed Su Tan'er's eyes. Su Tan'er's eyes were originally staring, but when he leaned down, she had to close them, feeling extremely humiliated. She wanted to bite hard, but she had already tasted a fishy sweetness between her lips, and unconsciously loosened her mouth, gritting her teeth and said, "Let go, get out!"

"I won't."

"You... you..."

"*Ruzhui*?"

"..." Su Tan'er originally didn't know what to scold, but at this time her face suddenly turned pale. She looked at Ning Yi's face, her eyes full of complicated emotions, not knowing what to say: "I, I didn't..."

The three maidservants listening at the window vaguely heard the words "Ruzhui", and their faces also turned pale. Su Tan'er and Ning Yi had been married for two years, and this was the first time they had quarreled, but the three maidservants understood that they could quarrel about anything, but if they quarreled about this word, the consequences would be disastrous.

Su Tan'er didn't know if her emotions had shifted to this. She looked at Ning Yi's smiling face, and her heart turned cold. But even if she had experienced so much business dealings, she couldn't tell what Ning Yi's emotions were at this time. Ning Yi smiled and still didn't let go of her: "It's useless, I still won't let go." He supported his bleeding right hand beside Su Tan'er.

"I...you..." Su Tan'er pursed her lips, "I...I didn't say that..."

"It's useless to say it, anyway, you married me... Whether I'm an *ruzhui* or not doesn't mean anything to me. Your family may think it does, and people outside may also think it does, but it doesn't. No matter how I marry you, it's all the same thing in the end. If I really want to do something, few people can stop me. Those people in Jiangning can't stop me, these people in Hangzhou can't stop me, the Wu family can't stop me, and my father-in-law and grandfather can't stop me... There are some things I don't do just because I really don't want to do them."

Ning Yi whispered in her ear, without too much emphasis: "I was very touched when you jumped down today... You are my wife, not because I married into your Su family."

Su Tan'er's face changed rapidly, and she said embarrassedly, "What, what are you talking about..."

"It's nothing, I just want to tell you that I was very touched today, because you jumped down without thinking. When I was touched, you wanted to be angry, which is very inappropriate. You were clearly swimming happily later, but you kept a straight face..."

"I, I didn't... Let go of me..."

"Oh, and I want to tell you, a real man never goes back on his word..."

As he spoke, Su Tan'er was still struggling, and suddenly felt the movement under her body, her almond eyes widened, and her face suddenly turned red.

"You you you... You can't... This way..."

"But I think it's very exciting this way..."

"Your hand is still bleeding..." She almost cried.

This night passed for a long time before Su Tan'er could bandage the wound on Ning Yi's arm. When the two were lying in bed, ready to really go to sleep, Su Tan'er recalled for a while, and then remembered that she was diverted by the other party, deviating from the theme.

"Ning Liheng, I haven't said, I'm very angry today..."

"But you've already shown it."

"You didn't apologize..."

"..." Ning Yi was silent for a long time, then reached out and hugged his wife, and sighed, "That... A real man doesn't apologize even if he's wrong."

"... You're a rogue."

"Actually, you can ask me why I married into your family next time."

Su Tan'er's body tightened, "Why?"

"Forgot, did you forget I had amnesia?"

"..." The woman was silent, "Let go of me."

"Huh?"

"I want to sleep with my back to you..."

So she slept with her back to him in Ning Yi's arms all night. The next day, when Ning Yi asked her about her mood when she jumped down, she refused to say anything. Actually, she couldn't remember her mood at that time. Maybe she didn't have any mood, and just jumped down. But she couldn't tell Ning Yi about these things.

Actually, for the past two months, since she knew that Qin SiYuan had invited Ning Yi when he went to Beijing, Su Tan'er had always felt contradictory and complicated in her heart. In the past month or so, Ning Yi had accompanied her to visit each family, and after the other party knew that Ning Yi was a *ruzhui*, they always inevitably had various gazes. Even if she understood Ning Yi's indifference, she couldn't help but have various thoughts in her heart, especially in June when the news of Qin SiYuan's appointment as Right Chancellor came, the word *ruzhui* had become increasingly sensitive in her heart.

But after this quarrel, some of the emotions in her heart had calmed down slightly. However, if Ning Yi wanted to go swimming in the future, she would sometimes let her go down, anyway, there was no one around. Ning Yi didn't mind his family doing some exercise, but Su Tan'er was determined not to go into the water again. She was just a little worried about her husband going into the water alone. Once Ning Yi went down, she would sit on the side of the boat and watch, sometimes Ning Yi would come over and talk to her in the water by the side of the boat.

She would take off her shoes and socks and soak her feet in the water. Actually, many women in this era were more proud of their feet than their bodies. If she saw a boat coming from afar, she would immediately take her feet up, cover them in her skirt, and quietly put on her shoes and socks.

Although it had been more than a month since they came to Hangzhou, apart from the routine visits every day, the couple was still living in their own world. They only occasionally interacted with Lou Shuwan, and had also met Lou Shuwan's two older brothers, Lou Shuheng and Lou Shuwang, a few times. Occasionally, when Ning Yi was going home at dusk, he would look at a group of strong men in the Liu's Martial Arts Hall practicing boxing with cheers and shouts. At this time, the setting sun shone down from the gaps in the trees, and Xiaochuan or other family members followed him. The days were leisurely and interesting.

It was not until after mid-June that a stranger came to visit. This person was related to Qian Xiwen and was named Shi Changqi. Because he had heard Ning Yi's name, he came to visit, but after learning about Ning Yi's *ruzhui* identity, he seemed to change from stunned to coming to denounce him...(To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come to Qidian.com (qd.com) to vote for recommendation and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)

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